Resurrecting the Gospel - Redux

Back in 2009 I wrote an article for the magazine Salt, a publication of the Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students (AFES).

AFES have republished my article, which you can find here.

I am the Very Model of a Modern Evangelical

I've been waiting for this for a long time. Thanks to my friend James, I finally have the words to "I am the very model of a modern evangelical". This was produced by some EUers in 2002 for Annual Conference and later for the AFES National Training Event.

If you try and sing, keep in mind that's it intended to be sung by two people. And although it is written to Gilbert and Sullivans "I am the very model of a modern Major-General", the words don't fit the music. There may also be longer versions out there, somewhere.

I am the very model of a modern evangelical

I am the very model of a modern evangelical

I have a Bible knowledge which is really quite incredible

I know my Stott and Carson, and I keep a copy by my bed,

Of Calvin's Insitutes, which I have not ... well which I might have read.

I keep all of my sermon tapes in order of chronology,

They help me with my grasp of all that Biblical theology

I have a Koorong discount ard, and so it isn't hard to tell...

That... I'm the very model of a modern evangelical...

(He is the very model of a modern evangelical x3)

I have been to KYC, Kyckstart, KYLC and MKC

And KEC and OKC, my favourite: WKC!

KYLC a few more times, but never will again, you see—

Because it falls far short of that eternal triumph... NTE

Well, I'm at Sydney Uni, ipso facto I am in EU,

I go to public meetings twice a week and every BBQ,

I lead a dozen small groups and I'm on a score of student teams,

I sometimes go to classes where I go to sleep and EU-dream...

I wait all year for NTE and for our Annual Conference,

But this I must submit to you in every bit of confidence,

That this guy here does more than me and so I guess I ought to tell...

That he is the very model of a modern evangelical!

(He is the very model of a modern evangelical x3)

I've had ninety seven girlfriends since I came to Christ three months ago

I had a few engagements and because the girls would come to know,

That I'm too old— I guess I very slowly had to come and see,

That evangelicals must marry off before they're twenty three...

Resurrecting the Gospel

A few years ago when I was at uni, the EU was using Easter as an opportunity to witness to the university. We gave out hot cross buns, books about Jesus, and had lots of good conversations. But the center-piece of this event was a large banner, which in giant letters stated ‘We believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.’ The banner also bore the names of hundreds of students and lecturers who agreed with the statement and wanted to proclaim it to a doubting and skeptical university. We were declaring the Christian gospel –Jesus Christ is Lord and God has raised him from the dead (Romans 10.9). As the Evangelical Union, the gospel union, we were committed to declaring the same gospel that the Apostles had declared thousands of years earlier. It is from their eyewitness accounts that we believed in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The very shape of Christianity is determined by the events that first Easter – a fact that the Apostles were acutely aware of. For the Apostles, the resurrection was the core foundation of their gospel: “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures…” (1 Corinthians 15.3-4). In his resurrection, Jesus is designated as the Son of God, the King of Israel and true heir of David (Romans 1.3-4, also 2 Timothy 2.8), and is marked out as the one who will judge the world: “…Now God commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17.30-31, also 10.39-43). As the one who is to judge, the apostles believed that Jesus was not just the King of Israel, but the Lord of all creation and to him belongs obedience from all nations (Romans 1.5, 15.12).

As the King that Israel had long waited for, the apostles knew that Jesus’ resurrection was significant for understanding the purposes of God. When Paul states that the gospel was “promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures”, he doesn’t have a couple of proof-texts in the back of his mind. The gospel – the death and resurrection of Jesus – is the climax of God’s covenant with Israel. In raising Jesus from the dead, God has shown himself faithful to his promises to Abraham and David, and has ultimately triumphed over sin and death – the evil powers that have held the world captive since Genesis 3. Jesus is the Christ promised by God to Israel in scripture. His death and resurrection reveal God’s plan for Israel and the world.

For the Apostles, this meant two things. Firstly, forgiveness of sins was now possible for both Jews and Gentiles through Jesus (Acts 13.37-38, 5.31). All people every where must now repent and follow the true king. Secondly, the resurrection of the dead, which Israel didn’t expect until the last judgment, had already happened to Jesus. The newly risen Lord now reigns over creation and guarantees us a resurrection like his when he returns (1 Corinthians 15:20ff). This was the gospel the apostles proclaimed – Jesus is Lord and he offers forgiveness for all and a living hope of a future resurrection.

Our challenge today is to continue announcing the resurrection of Jesus and allowing it to shape our lives. Despite living amongst many competing world views including post modernity and materialism, the resurrection of Jesus, God’s King, shows these up as idolatry by announcing the reality of Jesus’ Lordship. Like the apostles, evangelicals today must keep the resurrection central in our understanding and proclamation of the gospel.

AFES SALT: Resurrecting the Gospel

My article on the centrality of the resurrection in the apostolic gospel has been published in the Autumn AFES SALT magazine. I'm on page 10. Byron also has an article on Heaven: Not the End of the World.

If you don't already receive SALT, you can freely subscribe here.

And at some point I'll probably post my article on hebel.

Resurrecting the Gospel

I'm writing an article for AFES Salt Magazine on 'Resurrecting the gospel – why the resurrection lies at the heart of the gospel (1 Corinthians 15; the resurrection = the centre of the gospel formula of preaching in Acts)'.

What do you think I should say?

"Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel..."


Kudos for naming where the photo was taken.